CAUSE NO. 

THE STATE OF TEXAS

V.

JOHN DOE

§	IN THE ____________COURT
§
§	OF
§
§	_______________ COUNTY, TEXAS

MOTION TO DISCOVER CRIMINAL RECORDS OF WITNESSES

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
	COMES NOW, JOHN DOE, Defendant in the above styled and numbered cause and moves the Court to require the District Attorney to make available to the Defendant all criminal records which the State's witnesses or possible witnesses have in this cause and in support thereof would show the Court as follows:
I
	That the Defendant does not have any way of determining the criminal records of the State's witnesses or possible witnesses in this cause as such records are exclusively in the possession and under the control of the law enforcement authorities.
II
	That the District Attorney does have the means at his disposal to obtain a full and complete criminal record of each of the State's witnesses or possible witnesses.
III
	That evidence of a prior criminal record, including convictions for felony offenses and misdemeanor offenses, particularly those misdemeanor offenses involving moral turpitude, and acts of misconduct are relevant and material for impeachment purposes and to shed light on the bias, motive, animus and ill feeling on the part of any witness testifying against the Defendant, and to shed light on whom the probable aggressor in this cause was.
IV
	That the State should not be permitted to avoid the responsibility of requesting the proper law enforcement authorities to obtain a full and complete prior criminal record of the State's witnesses or possible witnesses, and should not be permitted to respond to this Motion by advising the Court that the District Attorney does not have any indication in his file of any prior criminal record of such witnesses simply because he has not made the necessary inquiries.
V
	That if the District Attorney does not request the proper law enforcement authorities to obtain a full and complete criminal record of such witnesses and reveal all of said information to the Defendant, the District Attorney will be secreting evidence which directly affects the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony and will therefore be secreting evidence which would probably effect the verdict.
	WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Defendant respectfully prays that this Honorable Court will order the District Attorney to request the proper law enforcement authorities to obtain a full and complete prior criminal record of State's witnesses and possible witnesses in this cause and that the District Attorney be ordered to reveal said prior criminal record and acts of misconduct to the Defendant prior to the trial of this cause.

Respectfully submitted,

By:                                                                

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
	I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the above and foregoing Motion to Discover Criminal Records of Witnesses has been hand-delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to the____________ Attorney of____________ County, Texas on the ____ day of ______, 200__.

CAUSE NO. 

THE STATE OF TEXAS

V.

JOHN DOE

§	IN THE ____________COURT
§
§	OF
§
§	_______________ COUNTY, TEXAS

	O R D E R

	On this day, came on to be heard the Motion to Discover Criminal Records of Witnesses and it is in all things (GRANTED) (DENIED), to which action of the Court Defendant duly excepts).

	SIGNED                                                              

							JUDGE PRESIDING